The Qreative Life Amanda Quraishi

In this episode of The Qreative Life podcast, Q sits down with LA-based PR and marketing expert Ericka Simone who has been working for decades in the music industry. They discuss what it takes to “make it” in the music business, and why Simone chose to follow her own particular path helping to launch and promote artists. 

About Ericka:

Website: https://www.espr.media

Social Media:


instagram.com/_erickasimone_


https://pixelfed.social/i/web/profile/659257075609224914

In this episode of The Qreative Life podcast, listen in as host Amanda Quraishi (aka Q) chats up journalist and film critic Zaki Hasan. The two of them discuss what makes for great storytelling, and what we can expect from the next generation of filmmakers.

ABOUT ZAKI:

Zaki Hasan is an award-winning journalist whose film reviews and analyses appear regularly in The San Francisco Chronicle, IGN, and The Wrap. He is also a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle and Hollywood Creative Alliance and co-host of the MovieFilm Podcast, a weekly discussion show featuring news, reviews, and interviews with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Find Zaki online:


Website
The MovieFilm Podcast

Find Zaki on social media:


Instagram [instagram.com/zakiscorner]
Twitter [twitter.com/zakiscorner]
BlueSky [bsky.app/profile/zakiscorner.bsky.social]
Threads [threads.net/@zakiscorner]

In this episode of The Qreative Life podcast, Amanda Quraishi (Q) chats with Austin-based photojournalist Michael Maly. Maly began taking his photography seriously just five years ago, and since that time has earned a reputation for his work photographing musical acts in Austin’s robust live-music scene.

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About Michael Maly:

Wide-eyed, curious, and feeding an insatiable appetite for knowledge through relationships, conversations, exploration, and knowledge. Expressing my personal experiences with the people and the world through a lens and occasionally with words. Open to possibilities and encouraging change through understanding. 

Everyone has a story that is waiting to be told. Live a great story. 

Music + People + Life

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Find Michael Maly online:


https://mmalyphotography.com

Find Michael Maly on Social Media:


Instagram: @mmalyphotography
Facebook: /mmalyphotography

In this episode of The Qreative Life podcast, Q talks with her longtime friend, Tom Myer. They dig into Myer’s creative past and his recent reclamation of painting as a medium; and they talk about the meaning and purpose of art. This episode was recorded on a Friday evening, so prepare yourself for a slightly unhinged, swear-word-filled conversation between two self-proclaimed assholes.

About Tom Myer:

Tom Myer is an artist, writer, hiker, flyfisherdude, showshoer, blues guitar player, gadfly, grumpy old sod, and dog dad. He’s what happens when you mix colonizer (German/Scottish/Spanish) with indigenous (Haudenosaunee & Ngabe-Bugle). He’s “anti-fascist and anti-Trump as f**k.” In his spare time he’s a “defender of public libraries and basically anything that will piss off the far right and/or evangelicals and/or NIMBY Karens.”

Find Tom Myer online:

www.myerman.art

Find Tom Myer on Instagram: @myerman.art

[https://www.instagram.com/myerman.art]

In this episode Q talks with textile artist and tai-chi instructor Natalie Durkin. They discuss what it took for Natalie to reclaim her creativity as an adult and make it her occupation; and they discuss the benefits of paying attention to our ‘drunken muses’ when they tell us to do random, interesting things. 

About Natalie:

Natalie Durkin is an artist currently specializing in using repurposed and upcycled textiles to create fabric portraits and other functional and decorative textile creations. 

After decades of being told it was unrealistic and irresponsible to earn a living from her creativity, Durkin decided she owed it to her true self to take back her creative power. The shift began in 2020 as a result of the pandemic which also coincided with her being diagnosed with a connective tissue disorder that caused joint instability, repeat injuries and chronic pain.

This one-two punch led her to the discovery of her passion for repurposed textiles as her artistic medium as well as the unplanned but necessary retirement from a 23-year career as a structural and rehabilitative massage therapist in the summer of 2022. Because her condition made it potentially dangerous and unwise to continue being an LMT,  she decided that it was the time to make living and earning creatively as an artist her priority. 

Durkin is currently growing an online audience and working on incoming commissions while continuing to learn how to balance her physical stamina. She’s also a professional martial arts instructor with black belts in Taekwondo, Yang and Chen Styles of Tai Chi, and Hung Gar Kung Fu. 

Find Natalie Online:

Instagram:  @natalie_durkin_textile_arts

Facebook: Natalie Durkin Textile Artist

(https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554240999966 )

Featured by Austin Creative Reuse

(https://austincreativereuse.org/blog/artist-spotlight-natalie-durkin)

This episode is a conversation with author Laury Silvers. She’s a retired academic and activist who took up fiction writing six years ago. Since then has published four books - a detective series set in 10th century Baghdad.

Listen along as Laury and I discuss the process of changing careers at midlife, how to take legitimate criticism; and the importance of being open to accepting help and  helping others, as we live our creative lives.

About Laury:

Laury Silvers is a North American Muslim, raised in the United States but finally at home in Canada. Her research and publications as a historian of religion focused on early Islam, early Sufism, and early pious and Sufi women. She taught at Skidmore College and the University of Toronto. Silvers also published work engaging Islam and Gender in North America in academic journals and popular venues, was actively involved in the woman-led prayer movement, and co-founded the Toronto Unity Mosque. She has since retired from academia and activism and hopes her novels continue her scholarship and activism in their own way. She lives in Toronto under Treaty 13.



Find Laury online:

llsilvers.com

And on social media:


Twitter: @waraqamusa


Instagram: @laurylsilvers


Facebook: /laurylsilvers


Threads: @laurylsilvers